Halloween With a Toddler: My Experience

It’s Halloween, and my son just turned two a few weeks ago! This year, I thought he might be old enough to go door to door trick or treating, and I was right! Here’s what I did with my son this year, along with tips for you to take your toddler out for Halloween:

Festivals or Trunk or Treats

Last weekend, I took my son to a festival at a church that offered free rides, games, and trick or treating. I also took him to trick or treating in the town square that had a free hay ride. The next day, we took him to a farm in our area that has hay rides, a pumpkin patch, a corn maze, and a small petting zoo. He enjoyed all of the things we took him to before Halloween, especially the corn maze, where we just let him go and followed him through.

Door to Door

We went to a few different neighborhoods until we found a good one. As this was our first year doing door to door trick or treating with him, we didn’t know where to go at first. He got a great loot of candy – enough to share with Mommy and Daddy! He actually enjoyed it much more than I thought he would. At each door, he would thrust his candy bag out proudly and squeeze out “Ticker Teat” (His way of saying trick or treat) through a giant grin. He even said thank you to everyone that gave him candy! I was so proud.

Tips for Door to Door Trick or Treating

Take glow sticks for you and your child to carry. It’s easier for people in cars to see you as it’s typically getting dark or is already dark during trick or treating.

Don’t forget a jacket! It may not be cold when you leave the house, but in some areas, it gets much colder once the sun sets.

Be prepared to have to carry your little one. We let him walk up the sidewalk to people’s front doors, but carried him up drive ways and down streets. If you don’t want to carry them, consider bringing a stroller or wagon as they’re so little, they’ll get tired faster if they have to walk the whole time.

Recognize their cues. For my son, we knew it was time to go home when he started rubbing his eyes and fussing a little. We knew that it meant he was getting tired and would be full out cranky if we pushed him to keep going.

Buy an extra bag of candy for you! When you get home to find a bag of your kids candy full of your favorite treat, you’ll want your own so you don’t eat all of his! We plan to buy us a bag tomorrow, when it’s on sale.

Above all, be safe and have fun! Do what works for your family. Maybe your kid isn’t ready for door to door trick or treating, but most cities and towns have some sort of fall festival that your child probably is ready for, if you are. Also, remember to go through your child’s candy and if it looks like it’s been opened before, throw it away! You never know what could have been done to it.